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Ex-Wayne County attorney's trial delayed for final time

A former Wayne County attorney has received a second continuance for his trial on 10 felony theft charges, but a special judge said there will be no more delays in the case.

E. Thomas Kemp, 49, of Greens Fork, has a trial scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on June 20 in Wayne County Superior Court II in front of Judge J. Steven Cox of Franklin County Circuit Court No. 1.

Cox accepted an appointment as a special judge in the case after Judge Gregory Horn recused himself because of Kemp's former work as a Wayne County public defender.

The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office filed 10 Class D felony theft charges against Kemp on Aug. 14. He is accused of mishandling money in a trust fund in one count and of accepting money without performing any legal services in the nine other counts.

Conviction of a Class D felony carries a sentencing range of six months to three years of incarceration, with a 1.5-year advisory sentence.

After Cox was appointed by Wayne County Clerk Debra Berry and took jurisdiction of the case, he issued an arrest warrant for Kemp on Aug. 28. Kemp turned himself in on Sept. 1 at the Wayne County Jail.

Cox released Kemp on his own recognizance after an initial hearing a week later in Superior II.

Kemp and his defense counsel, Nathaniel Conner, have had two motions for continuance granted by Cox. The first was filed on Nov. 24 and the second on April 21. Cox granted the second on April 25, according to court records, but advised the prosecution and defense there would be no further continuances.

Kemp ceased his local practice in 2014, and his license was suspended by the Indiana Supreme Court for failing to complete required continuing legal education.

The Supreme Court's Disciplinary Commission again ordered Kemp's license suspended after he failed to cooperate with an investigation into multiple client complaints against him. The disciplinary commission attempted to contact Kemp for more than four months in 2014.